Race Report: Budds Creek 2012

Words: Powell
Photos: Kinman

Thousands of motocross fans flocked to Mechanicsville, Maryland, to witness the fifth round of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship, held at the famous Budds Creek. High heat and humidity had plagued the event years past, but that wasn’t the case for today. All fans in attendance were welcomed with cool temperatures and a slight breeze. The weather was definitely welcomed by the racers, and that made for some great racing. In the 250 class, series points leader Blake Baggett had some stiff competition as he battled it out with multiple riders, but in the end, his two-one finish gave him the overall for the day. In the 450 class, it was all about Ryan Dungey as he dominated both boths by over 30-seconds. The highlight of the 450 race, though, had to go to Broc Tickle. With a two-two finish, he obviously capped off the day with a second, which was a career best. From here, the series takes a two-week break before it resumes in Buchanan, Michigan. Let’s go Red Budddd!

450 Moto 1
By posting the fastest qualifying time of the day, Ryan Dungey had tons of confidence headed into the first moto. When the pack of riders entered the first turn, though, it was Muscle Milk Honda’s Justin Brayton with the holeshot. Brayton’s lead didn’t last long as Dungey jumped into first. Once that happened, it was almost game over for the rest of the riders because he started to quickly pull away. Mike Alessi looked pretty comfortable in third, but behind was a hard charging Broc Tickle. Turn after turn, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider had caught up to Alessi, and eventually made the pass. Within the next couple of laps, Tickle had made the pass on Brayton, too. Once he was in second, Dungey had already built his lead up to 15-seconds.

At the halfway mark, Jake Weimer had caught up towards the front after suffering from a bad start, and he started to put some pressure on Alessi, who was back in third. Alessi didn’t give up the fight, though, and pushed his way back into the top three. However, with two laps to go, he lost the third position once again to Weimer. At the end of the race, Dungey had won by 43-seconds, while Tickle and Weimer rounded off the top three.

Results
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
2. Broc Tickle (Kaw)
3. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
4. Mike Alessi (Suz)
5. Justin Brayton (Hon)
6. Andrew Short (Hon)
7. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
8. Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
9. Davi Millsaps (Yam)
10. Josh Grant (Kaw)
11. Michael Byrne (Suz)
12. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
13. Billy Laninovich (Hon)
14. Les Smith (KTM)
15. Jimmy Albertson (Suz)
16. Matt Lemoine (Kaw)
17. Justin Sipes (Kaw)
18. Vince Friese (Suz)
19. Ben Lamay (Yam)
20. Kevin Rookstool (Hon)

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450 Moto 2
Mike Alessi snagged the holeshot in moto two, while Tickle, Billy Laninovich, and Dungey followed suit. As soon as the pack of riders crossed the finish line for the first time, Dungey had made the pass on both Laninovich and Tickle, and moved into second. It wasn’t long before Alessi started to take some heat from the Red Bull KTM rider, but he did everything he could to hold off Dungey. Corner after corner, Alessi tried to shut the door, but eventually Dungey found a line to get around the MotoConcepts rider. Once Dungey moved into the lead, he started to check out, just like he did in moto one. Possibly worn out from the battle with Dungey, Alessi started to lose his pace, which allowed Tickle to close in. Once again, Alessi tried everything he could to hold his position, but Tickle made the pass stick on the tricky off camber turn. At the halfway mark it was Dungey, Tickle, Alessi, Andrew Short, Josh Grant, Kyle Regal, Jake Weimer, Brett Metcalfe, Justin Brayton, and Davi Millsaps.

Weimer put in a hard charge, and as the laps counted down, he had worked his way up to fifth, right behind Grant. When the moto came to a close, it was a drag race to the finish between Grant and Weimer, but in the end, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider took the fourth spot. Dungey, Tickle, and Alessi rounded off the podium.

Results
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
2. Broc Tickle (Kaw)
3. Mike Alessi (Suz)
4. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
5. Josh Grant (Kaw)
6. Brett Metcalfe (Suz)
7. Davi Millsaps (Yam)
8. Justin Brayton (Hon)
9. Kyle Regal (Yam)
10. Andrew Short (Hon)
11. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
12. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
13. Jimmy Albertson (Suz)
14. Cole Thompson (Hon)
15. Matt Lemoine (Kaw)
16. Robert Marshall (KTM)
17. Ben Lamay (Yam)
18. Sean Borkenhagen (Kaw)
19. Michael Byrne (Suz)
20. Vince Friese (Suz)

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